Ministry, Statistical Service to commence Agric census in April

The Ministry of Food and Agriculture, in collaboration with the Ghana Statistical Service, will commence the collection of data from households and institutions involved in agriculture, in April.

The data, according to the Ministry will guide policy-makers in the disbursement of resources to promote agriculture in the rural areas.

The exercise, which will take place across all 216 districts in the country, will have enumerators collect data of households and institutions engaged in crop production, livestock, aquaculture and tree planting.

In a speech read by Director of Policy Planning Monitoring and Evaluation at the Ministry of Information, Patricia Dovi Samson, on his behalf, in Bolgatanga at the ‘training of trainers’ Agric Minister, Owusu Afriyie Akoto said the census when completed will provide reliable statistics for planning and monitoring food security and livelihood improvements.

Mrs. Patricia Dovi said the data to be collected will provide current information on the structure of agriculture in the country which is vital to the re-basing of Ghana’s Gross Domestic Product(GDP).

“The data will also provide statistics on agriculture for policymakers to allocate public resources effectively and to better identify, prepare, implement and evaluate developmental projects aimed at promoting agriculture in rural areas.

“It will again provide current information to help fight environmental issues at the community level and provide relevant information for use by stakeholders including farmers, researchers and international organizations” Mrs. Dovi stated.

Upper East Regional Director of Food and Agriculture Francis Ennor, said the exercise will provide data on community facilities such as roads, hospitals and schools, among other things for proper policy interventions to propel the development of farmers in the rural areas.

He urged all stakeholders in the agricultural sector to support government get accurate data that will harness agriculture growth and food security of Ghana.

Upper East Regional Minister Rockson Bukari said the last time a census of agriculture conducted in Ghana was in 1985, adding that, government’s quest for another census formed part of Akufo Addo’s vision of making Agric the backbone of economic growth in the country.